Having been spotted around town, it's no secret that Statistics Canada has been operating in Swift Current.

The Canadian Health Measures Survey, which they are conducting at random, is completely optional. The survey is not new either, having been taking place in various communities across Canada since 2007.

Thac Dung Nguyen, the assistant director within the Centre for Direct Health Measures at Statistics Canada, has been helping oversee efforts being made in the city.

"I think household interviews have been collected since the middle of February," said Nguyen. "The mobile clinic itself has been here since the beginning of March and will be here until the first week of April."

The information collected during the survey is used to understand the relationship between disease and risk factors.

Things like obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease all help to present a better grasp of public health challenges when they can be accurately accounted for in the population.

Participants who have made it into the random selection and have chosen to participate can head over to their mobile lab station at Kinetic Park.

"In general, the participants who have completed and consented to the mobile examination have had very positive experiences," said Nguyen. "I also want folks to know that this survey is voluntary. It's really up to respondents to participate."

The entire survey is a multi-stage sampling procedure, which means that all the different sites where it is being conducted are compiled together to get an overall picture of the health situation across the country. This helps establish national baselines that help to inform health professionals in Canada.